Rain storm kills 29 cows, destroys houses, roads in Plateau

The member representing Jos East Constituency in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Joshua Madaki, says over 29 cows were drowned by a heavy downpour in Jos East Local Government Area of the state.

Madaki said farmlands and bridges linking the people of the area to the headquarters of the local government were not left out of the destruction.

The lawmaker said on Tuesday evening that the heavy downpour, which lasted several hours, wrecked havoc by disconnecting the council secretariat from the people, forcing residents to go through Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State before they can reach the council headquarters.

Madaki solicited the intervention of the Plateau State Government and other spirited individuals to rescue the affected communities by providing relief materials and to reconstruct the damaged bridges to enable the farmers move their harvest to the markets.

He said: “The main roads connecting Fobur-Federe-Angwari at Keven are badly washed away by the flood, including crops such as rice, yam, which are the main cash crops of the people, the entire local government has been ex-communicated due to heavy flood disaster.”

Madaki expressed worry that users of the road had to pass to Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State before reaching Jos East LGA headquarters.

He said: “With the total collapse of roads, no heavy truck can pass through the area.

“And another issue is the Maza community road, which is disconnected and which has rendered the people helpless.”

Madaki said to achieve food security, government needed to do more in the area of agriculture, with the yam festival this year going to be affected owning to the floods.

Speaking on his legislative functions, Madaki said that the primary duty of a legislator is to perform those roles assigned to him constitutionally, carry out oversight functions effectively and enlighten his constituents on his legislative business.

He said: “A legislator has the constitutional power to embark on oversight functions in different ministries for efficient check and balances.

“Within one year, a lot of bills have been passed into law, which is the road map of good representation.

“We are privileged and are given constituency allowance to carry out some functions.”

Madaki said in the past one year, he has been able to sink 15 boreholes and construct two classrooms among other projects completed and commissioned, while some are still ongoing in targeted communities.

The legislator lauded the idea of the State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, on the extension of local government committee tenure, which reduced pressure on members.

He said as a government, they have to plan for election properly in order to ensure good governance.

He urged the people to stop disobeying government and its procedures because they cannot do without them.

He stressed that the extension of the tenure of the local government caretaker committee is within the legislative responsibility of the House and they had to renew the tenure of the chairmen because there can never be vacuum in governance.